Vacuum cleaner



March E. R. STINE ET AL ,5 7

VACUUM CLEANER Filed NOV. 23, l929 I la I N VEN TOR 5 .2 61 /112 AND A TTORNE Y.

Patented Mar. 24, 1931 m ss? UNITE-D STATE P TENT --oFFicE nmvns'r R. STINE AND ivr Ttr I-As n. BERNIIARDT, or LENOIR, NORTH CAROLINA VACUUM CLEANER Application. filed November 23, 1929. Serial No. 409,320.

This invention relates to a vacuum cleaner and more especially to a vacuum cleaner adapted to be operated by hand, and not requiring any motive power other than hand ,5 power to operate the same, and 1s adapted to i be used in places where a conventional motordriven vacuum cleaner can not reach, and also to be used where a source of power for driving a vacuum cleaner is not available. An object of our invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner having means for picking up objects and holding them within a container, together with means associated with the vacuum cleaner for rendering such objects availl able for the picking up operation, such as the combination of a fly swatter secured to the vacuum cleaner so that the flies may be killed or stunned, so that they can be picked up by the vacuum cleaner. 2 Another object of our invention is to provide a hand operated vacuum cleaner which is adapted to pick up all objects or animals or vermin and confine them within a compartment, and said compartment being removable from the vacuum cleaner, as for instance when flies are picked up they will be imprisoned in a cage and this cage can be removed, and the flies or other living matter can be exterminated and released from im- 36 prisonment, and the cage reinstalled intothe apparatus ready for a new operation.

Some of the objects of our invention having been stated other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

which vFigure lis a side elevation of our device with the fly swatter omitted therefrom Figure 2 is a longitudinally cross-sectional view of our vacuum cleaner;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 33 in Figure 2;

' V Figure 4 is an enlarged detail View of the left-hand portion of Figure 2; 5 Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 55 in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4, but showing means whereby a tube of any desired length can be connected to our cleaner;

Figure 7 is a side elevation of my device showinga fly swatter in association there with;

Referring more particularly to the drawings the numeral 10 indicates the casing which is preferably circular in cross-section, and to one end of this casing is adapted to be threadably secured the cap portion llhav ing the tubular portion ,12 extending therefrom, and resting inthe bottom of this portion 11 is the rubbergasket'13 which hasthe valve portion 1 1, whichisadapted to close the passageway lo'in the tube 12, and the. washer 16 is adapted to be threadably secured in the interior of the cap 11 to hold the gasket member 13 in position, and this washer member has the hole 17 therein. This washer member 16 has the circular'projection 18 thereon with the annular cavity 19, in which the screen cage 20 is adapted to be secured, said I screen cage 20and the valve portion 'l l-serving to imprison any objects which are pulled up into the passageway 15.

The-tubular member 10 has the .inturn'ed flange portion'2l and the. compression spring 22 is adapted to be mounted'in'the tubular n5 member 10, and to'be retained by the inturned flange 21. This compression spring I 22 is adapted topress at its other end against. the piston :23, which has the packing 24 therearound, this piston has secured thereto the pistonrod 31, andthe other end of this pis v ton rod 31 is adapted to be slidably mounted in the longitudinally disposed cavity 32in the block member .25 which is mounted in the tubular portion 10; A compression spring 5 26 is mounted in the cavity 32 and is adapted to press against the end of the piston rod 31 and. act as a cushion when the compression spring 22 forces the rod backwardly or to the right in Figure 2. The members 28 and 29, 00' which areadaptedito support a fly swatter 33 are led inwardly and then outwardly and then longitudinally, and have their end portions embedded in the'block25. The cap 34 is threadably'secured over" the end of the tubular member 10 to'hold the previously de scribed parts in position with the members 28 and 29 extending through the hole 36 in the cap portion 34:. Intermediate the ends of thepistonrod3listhe cavity 40 which has transversely disposed therein the pin 41, on which the pivoted dog 42 is mounted, and also on this pin 41 is the torsion spring 43, which is adapted to press the dog 42 to the left in Figure 2. Integral with the tubular portion 10 are the projecting lugs 45 and 46, in which the pin 4'? is mounted, and on this pm the trigger member 48 is pivotally mounted with the torsion spring 49 being mounted therearound with one end 50 being secured to the trigger member 48 and the other end of spring 49 being prevented from turning movement by means of the pin 51 mounted in the projection 45.

If the tube 12 is not long enough the cap 11 may be made with a shorter tubular por tion 12 and any suitable tubing of any desired length as shown in Figure 6 and indicated by the reference character 55 may be secured thereto, so that articles may be picked up from any distance desired.

The piston 23 has a hole 23a therethrough which is covered by a flexible washer 237) which allows air to escape through said hole when the piston is forced to the left in Figure 2, and which closes when the piston 23 is moved to the right rapidly by compression spring 22.

The operation of our device is as follows:

With the parts in the position shown in Figure 2 the trigger is pulled to 'thedotted line position in Figure 2, and this causes the upper portion of the trigger to engage the dog 42 and force the piston 31 and piston 23 to the left in Figure 2 against the compression spring 22, until the upper end of trigger 48 passes out of engagement with the dog 42, and this allows the spring 22 to force the pistures.

ERNEST R. STINE. MATTHIAS R. BERNHARDT.

ton and piston rod back very quickly, and the compression spring 26 takes up the shock when the piston rod strikes against it, this quick backward movement of the piston 23 lifts the flap 14, and draws in very quickly a quantity of air through the passageway 15 of the tube 12, and this passes from beneath the flap 14 up into the cage 20'and when this operation is completed the flap 14 will again close, and the articlespicked up will be imprisoned within the cage 20, and should these articles be flies which have been killed or stunned by the fly swatter 33 the cap 11 can be removed together with the cage 20 and dipped in boiling water or any other suitable means for killing the flies or other vermin or animals caught therein.

In the drawings and specification'we have set forth a preferred embodiment of our invention, and although specific terms are employed they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claim. 7

lVe claim: 7

In a device for exterminating flies and .othermsects, a tubular acasing, a fly swatter i it 

